80s TV Ladies

On this special Bonus Holiday-themed episode, Susan and Sharon welcome Stan Zimmerman, co-writer of Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas.
Stan Zimmerman is a prolific producer and director but is perhaps best known for his work with writing partner James Berg on A Very Brady Sequel and on the classic television as Roseanne, Gilmore Girls and The Golden Girls. In Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas, Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills and Nicolette Sheridan star as five glamorous ‘80s soap opera icons who reunite to share the spotlight to shoot the final Christmas episode of their long-running soap opera.
Lifetime’s Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas premieres tomorrow!
-- Friday, December 2nd @ 8:00 EST!
THE CONVERSATION

• STAN TV: As a kid Stan created an imaginary “Fourth Network” in his bedroom, programming a show lineup 7-days a week -- including giving Lily Tomlin her own comedy-variety series!
• Stan started out as a writer so young he had to wear a pair of fake glasses to pitch meetings to appear older.
• In 1985, Stan and his writing partner James Berg were one of the first gay writing teams on network TV – but their agents insisted they stay in the closet for fear they’d be fired.
• LOOKING FOR A ‘BEA ARTHUR TYPE’: How Susan Harris – the creator of The Golden Girls -- ended up snagging the real thing!
• THE BIRTH OF ST. OLAF: Stan tells the story of finding Betty White’s character Rose Nylund’s hometown in the first season of The Golden Girls.
• How Stan and James had to trim their scripts -- because they were getting too many laughs!
• In the 1980’s, you could walk down Santa Monica Blvd on a Saturday night and hear The Golden Girls playing in all the gay bars!
• What happened the night they filmed an episode on the day Bea Arthur’s mother died.
• “ADULT EDUCATION” – how this classic episode came about when Rue McClanahan specifically asked the writers to “challenge my character”.
• The huge network fight about airing the “Lesbian Kiss” episode of Roseanne.
• Which Golden Girl was Stan’s favorite to write for?
• And which one had terrible stage fright every time they filmed an episode?
• How Joan Collins and Jacklyn Smith were almost in A Divas Christmas!

So join Susan and Sharon – and Stan – as they talk Meryl Streep, Fame, teachable moments – and emailing with Lily Tomlin!
AUDIOGRAPHY
Premieres Friday, December 2nd. Watch Ladies of the 80’s: A Divas Christmas on Lifetime.
Pre-order Stan’s book on Bookshop.org: The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore.
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BEST FEMALE HOSTED - BEST TV & FILM - BEST ART PODCAST
80’s TV Ladies WON three People’s Choice Podcast Awards!

Season 3 of “Scarecrow & Mrs. King” is a fun, and kind of bonkers, 22-episode journey that is anything but straight-forward. International intrigue, poisoned food and wine, eclectic guest stars and a herky-jerky path to romance all add up to a season with surprising rewards – and puzzling road blocks. In this week’s tour of near-misses and near-kisses, we discuss...
- Are Lee (Bruce Boxleinter) and Amanda (Kate Jackson) heating up – or on slow-boil? And why is WKRP in Cincinnati’s Frank Bonner suddenly invading Amanda’s home life?
- What’s on First? A re-shuffle of the first five episodes leaves us with more questions than answers. Why the last minute change up? And how does it affect the development of Lee and Amanda's relationship?
- Special Guest and friend-of-the-show Richard Hatem (Titans, Grimm) joins in to talk about why some shows choose (or are forced) to air their episodes out of production order...
- Who’s the Boss? A third season brings us a THIRD showrunner – George Geiger (Hunter, Profiler), more female scribes (Kathleen A. Shelley, Whitney Wherrett Roberson, Lynne Kelsey) – and the directorial debut of... Ms. Kate Jackson!
- Some of our favorite – and some of the weirdest – episodes ever: Garrett Morris as an African Prime Minister? Lee and Amanda as brother and sister? A retirement home for aging spies? Dottie (Beverly Garland) getting hot and heavy with... A KGB agent? And the return of Amanda’s ex-husband??
Join us as we slip sideways down a twisty-turny Season Three road – with a few bumps along the way – to arrive at Lee and Amanda’s (finally) first official kiss!
AUDIO-OGRAPHY
Beverly Garland: Her Life and Career by Deborah Del Vecchio
https://www.amazon.com/Beverly-Garland-Her-Life-Career/dp/0786465018
Come Walk With Me - A fun, blog journey through all 88 episodes!
https://justwalkwithme.com
Find Richard Hatem at
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368818/
https://twitter.com/richardhatem
Watch Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 3
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00578YIYE/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s3
Get ABC Miracles - created by Richard Hatem https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Complete-Skeet-Ulrich/dp/B0007N1AM2
Watch D.C. Titans on HBOMax https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GX3Uw2AN9CaHCwwEAAALT
For more information or to download a transcript of this podcast, visit our website: https://80stvladies.com
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Susan and Sharon get to sit down with writer/producer/show-runner Maggie Friedman to talk about the show that inspired her to embark on a career in television: Designing Women.
Designing Women (1986-1993) was created by the legendary Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and starred Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor as the owners and staff of the Atlanta-based interior design firm “Sugarbaker & Associates”. In its seven-year run, Designing Women was known for sharp writing, big laughs and taking on issues from a feminist angle in a way that no other show had done before – or since.
Maggie Friedman is best known for creating, writing and executive producing Witches of East End for Lifetime Television and Firefly Lane currently on Netflix. She has also written and produced episodes of Dawson’s Creek, Jack & Bobby, Once and Again, Wasteland, Spellbound and No Tomorrow.
THE CONVERSATION

• How an Ally McBeal spec script got Maggie into a room with Kevin Williamson – and onto the staff of his first show, Dawson's Creek.
• Maggie set her sights on getting into AFI – and did -- because a mean girl told her she couldn’t!
• HE DID IT/SHE LIED: Those T-Shirts from the Designing Women Anita Hill episode, and the impact it had on Maggie.
• Which of the Designing Women are you? Sharon is a Julia, but is Susan Mary Jo – or Anthony?
• “Guns, and AIDS, and condoms – OH MY!” How Designing Women took on all the current issues, that are unfortunately still current today.
• SPOILER ALERT: What happens when you write HUGE CLIFFHANGERS – and then your show gets cancelled!
• Big Hair, Big Shoulders! Was the Atlanta of Designing Women accurate? Susan grew up in Georgia -- and has thoughts.
• Republican Dixie Carter’s deal: “For every liberal rant you make Julia say, I get to sing a song!”
• “Georgia On My Mind”: Ray Charles sings with the Designing Women!
• Young Susan’s brush with fame: Mark Harmon and Peter Scolari – both in one hour!
• “WOMEN OF THE HOUSE” – the little-known 1995 “sequel” where Suzanne Sugarbaker goes to Congress to fill her late husband’s house seat.

So join Susan, Sharon – and Maggie – as they talk Jackie Collins, Witches of East End, Scott Bakula, --- and how sexy Richard Hatem is!
AUDIOGRAPHY
Follow Maggie Friedman on Instagram.
Check out the fan website: Designing Women Online.
Stream Designing Women on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Pluto!
Find more cool podcasts at our network, Weirding Way Media.
For spooky Halloween Season fun, visit our friends Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess at their podcast “Astonishing Legends".
CONNECT
For transcripts, contact info and more, visit 80sTVLadies.com.
Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
Get ad-free episodes and exclusive videos on PATREON.
BEST FEMALE HOSTED - BEST TV & FILM - BEST ART PODCAST
80’s TV Ladies has WON three People’s Choice Podcast Awards!
NOMINATED: Best Moment of Raw Emotion
80s TV Ladies is nominated for an International Women’s Podcast Award!

“Katie and I, our relationship could be a little exciting -- I had to watch my step, I had to toe the line. I had to behave myself or I’d get taken to the principal’s office... And she was the principal.” -- Bruce Boxleitner
In Part Two of their conversation, Bruce reflects on the differences between doing TV then and now, his relationship with Kate Jackson -- and how the long hours can sometimes turn your co-stars into your family...
Bruce Boxleitner’s television career started way back in 1973 with an appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and he has since appeared in over 100 films and TV shows including Gunsmoke, Baretta, Police Woman, Hawaii 5-0, Babylon 5, Crossing Jordan, Commander in Chief, American Dad, Cold Case, Heroes, Chuck, NCIS, Supergirl, The Orville, When Calls The Heart, How The West Was Won, Bring ‘Em Back Alive, The Gambler and Tron.
THE CONVERSATION

• THE UGLY SIDE OF LEE STETSON: When Lee slaps Amanda in “Burn Out” (S2; EP.21) What was going on? -- “Kate said, “Hit me.” It was no fun. I didn’t enjoy doing it at all.”
• ON THE JAZZ: In Europe, Mel Stuart -- a saxophonist -- fell in with some local jazz musicians and ended up sitting-in in clubs all over Munich.
• DOUBLE TROUBLE: Bruce finds out the strange reason his stunt double Gary Davis did the pilot’s helicopter stunts with no safety cable!
• On doing network TV: “This is where I come off sounding like a grumpy old man, but in my day, we had fun. Nobody is having fun anymore. Because we have cell phones on the set, everyone’s on their cell phone. No one’s talking.”
• WHO CAN TURN THE WORLD ON WITH HIS SMILE? Bruce got his first gig on The Mary Tyler Moore Show because the producer owed his agent a favor.
• On doing a streaming series: “I’m doing a series now -- six episodes. They call that a series? I call it a two-parter.”
• Bruce gets a surprise walking onto the Gunsmoke set when he discovers the entire town is built inside a soundstage.
• On filming pilots: “George Clooney says he’s the king of the unsold pilots. Well, buddy, I’m the runner-up!”
• While shooting The Orville, Bruce finds out that the biggest SMK fan... is Seth McFarlane!
• How do you marry Lee and Amanda? Should you marry Lee and Amanda?

So, join Susan and Sharon -- and Bruce -- as they talk How The West Was Won, Ted Knight, Tron, Juanita Bartlett, Susan Diol, Police Woman, and pranking Martha Smith -- and Kate Jackson -- AND Beverly Garland... and the sad, tragic life of “Dean, the Boyfriend”!
AUDIO-OGRAPHY
Find out more about Bruce Boxleitner at Facebook.com
Follow him at Instagram.com/BoxleitnerBruce
Follow him at Twitter.com/BoxleitnerBruce
Catch him on Cameo at Cameo.com/BoxleitnerBruce
Watch S2, Ep. 21: Burn out on Tubi
Get The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow & Mrs. King by David Johnson, Taya Johnston and Sabine Ludewig at Amazon.
CONNECT
Visit 80sTVLadies.com for transcripts.
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• This year is the 45th anniversary of President Carter's Crisis of Confidence speech. Read Susan’s new play about the speech and the confidence it takes to be president in challenging times: Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.

“A lot of production companies... who decide to do stories about people of color are not used to having the people of color they hire coming in with an opinion. Coming in contradicting them on certain things.” -- Neema Barnette, director, A Different World
Susan and Sharon welcome legendary producer-director Neema Barnette to talk about her journey from Harlem to Hollywood. Ms. Barnette made history in 1986 when she became the first African-American woman to direct a prime-time sitcom (What’s Happening Now?). She followed this up with episodes of Frank’s Place, It’s A Living and The Cosby Show before directing seven episodes of A Different World. She has directed over 50 movies and television shows and was also the first African-American woman to get a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures.
Neema was also the producer-director of Season One of Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey’s Queen Sugar. She shares stories of making the transition from New York theater to Hollywood films and television, fighting the good fight for herself and others, and inspiring a new generation -- with the truth.
THE CONVERSATION

• Head of Columbia Pictures Barbara Corday took one look at Neema’s reel and said “Get this woman a job!”
• “I’ve had two jobs in my life. Directing and teaching. And they have a lot of similarities. ‘Sit down. Shut up. Move over.’
• Supportive words from the great Shirley Hemphill on the ground-breaking episode of What’s Happening Now?: “We’ve got your back.”
• IN THE 60s: Getting Sherman’s BBQ and going to the Apollo from noon to midnight to see everyone -- especially Aretha Franklin.
• The troubles and battles with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and National Geographic during the making of Genius: Aretha.
• “When I was in college, I took a course called ‘Strategies For Revolution’. I took that course and I applied it when I came to Hollywood.”
• Directing The Cosby Show -- in the episode where Bill gets pregnant!
• Working with Tyra Ferrell, Mare Winningham, Rosilyn Heller and Gloria Steinem on Better Off Dead.
• Getting pulled away from teaching to do Queen Sugar. “The ratings came out and I started getting calls.”
• How Ava DuVernay changed the landscape of television by hiring only women directors on Queen Sugar -- and supporting their careers ongoing.

So, join Susan, Sharon -- and Neema -- as they talk Michael B. Jordan, Superfly, The Young Lords, Queen Latifah, Seventh Heaven, Pam Grier -- and “Cut--print that sucker!”
AUDIOGRAPHY
Watch A Different World -- streaming on MAX.
Find Neema Barnette at instagram.com/neemafilms. On Twitter https://x.com/neemrick
Watch Neema’s mini-docs on BlackHistoryMiniDocs.com.
Check out Tammy at the true-crime podcast: Grits with a Side of Murder.
Get & read Susan’s new play Confidence (and the Speech) at Broadway Licensing.
Abortion access in America is severely limited – Help or Get Help at AbortionFinder.org.
CONNECT
Visit 80sTVLadies.com for more.
Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
Check out Instagram/80sTVLadies.
Support us and get ad-free episodes on PATREON.
Find more cool podcasts at our host sight, Weirding Way Media.